Do Not Track, We Will; Bigger Isn't Better

Microsoft was the first browser maker to turn on “Do Not Track” by default, and now its advertising arm plans to implement a proprietary tracking system. Microsoft would track across computers, phones and tablets that are running Windows, as well as Xbox consoles, Internet Explorer and Bing, an unnamed source told Ad Age’s Tim Peterson. "Not only would [Microsoft] be building out an Ad ID, but they would also be building out a cross-channel attribution model, which everybody wants," said The Media Kitchen President Barry Lowenthal. Read more.

Bigger Isn’t Better

Big data and good data are not the same thing, according to Dana Hayes Jr., GVP, global partner development at Acxiom. In a column for ClickZ, Hayes Jr. says siloed databases are a logjam to targeting nirvana. The way out? “Predicting people's intentions, or propensity modeling, is what takes you from a blind distraction with big data and into smart, better data implementation for targeted reach.” Read more.

Unloyal

Companies love their loyalty programs, but only 35% of members redeem rewards, according to Direct Marketing News, and a Forrester report. “There's a shift in focus from the idea that loyalty is all about transactions and discounts. In the future it needs to be more about engagement and emotion,” said Forrester analyst Emily Collins. Forrester recommends embracing two-way interaction, balancing rewards and experiences and bridging the strategy and technology gap. Read more.

Pin-closure

Pinterest has begun testing a “Promoted Pins” paid media program first announced in September. A label indicates a pin is promoted, and a mouse-over gives the user more information. “We encourage brands to have an authentic presence on Pinterest that shows what makes their brand unique, and give people inspiration to take action offline with those pins,” a spokeswoman said to AllThingsD in an email. Read more.

India Ecommerce

Amazon may be the ecommerce winner in the U.S., but Flipkart takes the cake in India. A new $160 million round brings its total capital raised to $540 million, according to VentureBeat. The company competes heavily with Amazon in India, with both trying to cash in on the growing middle class that increasingly prefers the convenience of shopping online. Read more.

Leveraging Survey Data

SessionM is finding success with its loyalty and rewards platform and is launching its Mobile Custom Audience Segmentation Tool, or mCAST. SessionM allows users to earn rewards for interacting with apps in certain ways, and now the company will bring that data along with other first-party data to its platform. "What we've found is that when you give consumers control, transparency and tangible value, they are more than willing to reciprocate by giving you their attention and valuable insights into who they are and what they like," said Bill Clifford, chief revenue officer for SessionM. Read the release.

More Facebook Updates

Facebook is on an update roll, this time refreshing its Page Insights tool to give page owners a better idea of who is engaged with their post, and who isn’t. Facebook simplified the metrics used and updated the export tool. The company also made it clear that there are no plans the make the "people talking about this" metric public. Read more.

Mo’ Screens

Americans are spending less time in front of the TV, but not much, while adding in content from other devices, according to eMarketer. This leaves the average person at more than five hours in front of a computer (or phone, or tablet) and four-and-a-half hours in front of the TV. In a self-experiment, WSJ’s Katherine Rosman Rosman found is that it’s actually difficult to log the amount of time she spent consuming content. Read more.